GRADARA - THE CITY OF LOVE - VIAGGIA CON WALLACE

Описание: Once upon a time there was a noble lady called Francesca, Francesca was the daughter of Giulio Minore, lord of Ravenna and cerbia.
In 1275 the father decided to make her marry Giocanni Malatesta called Gianciotto, the two men formed an alliance, Gianciotto would've helped him hunt down the Traversari, his enemies, in exchange Guido Minore would've allowed him to marry his daughter.
Since Gianciotto wasn't very attractive and the two men feared a rejection from Francesca, they decided to introduce her to Paolo, also known as "the beautiful" brother of Gianciotto.
As soon as the girl saw him she fell in love, and decided to marry him on the spot.

Francesca said yes, without knowing that in truth Paolo was marrying her for another man, his brother Gianciotto, that night in the dark bedroom the real husband showed up, but the girl didn't notice a thing, she found out about what had happened only in the coming morning, but it was too late.

Soon she gave up to this sad life, and had a daughter which she called Concordia, Paolo owned land near Gradara, and he used to visit her sister-in-law frequently in secret, one of his brothers Malatestino dell'occhio, known for his only good eye was spying on the two and soon found out about their meetings.

So one day, in September 1289 the husband came back home sooner than expected, and found Francesca and Paolo together, reading a book that featured Lancillotto e Ginevra as protagonists, while kissing each others softly, blinded by envy, Gianciotto grabbed his sword killing them both in one fatal swing.

To this day we can still see the trapdoor in the girl's bedroom, the se one that Paolo desperately tried to use to escape from the wrath of his brother, during his escape his cape got stuck on a nail and was forced to take a few steps back to free it, but this act sealed his fate, Gianciotto had enough time to unsheat his sword, but Francesca got in front of him to protect the one she truly loved, they both died in one swing and with the same blade.

The unfortunate lovers were featured by Dante in his Divina commedia, in the fifth circle of hell, as the years passed various poets, musicians, writers painters and sculptors were inspired by the tragic story of Paolo and Francesca, to this day the love story, filled with mystery intrigues thousands of people.

Our journey continues in Gradara, in what is considered the most well preserved historical landmark of Italy, with its high walls, the wonderful cobblestone roads and the taverns surrounding the main road it almost seems to go back in time, the double set of walls, erected in the 300 is in an optimal condition despite its age, the wall expands for 800 meters, it has a total of 14 different towers, we're now walking on the old guarding trail, which is 300 meters long and allows us to watch the whole city, the titan mountain, Montefeltro and the Adriatic coast, but we're also able to jump back in the past and just like the guards did back then, we're able to watch over the entire marchigian land.

This ancient city hides a secret within its core, an ancient network of caves and hidden passages that have been here from the very beginning, that gifts us the charm of mystery, there are 16 different caves, 10 of them are safe to explore but only one of them is open to the public, the same one which houses the historical museum, for more than 1500 years these caves house the secrets of history, the caves were originally used by the people as hideouts for cults, religious centers and much more, the caves also feature many hidden paths, designed to act as getaways in case the castle was under siege.

Gradara, the city of love.